Assistant prosecutor indicted on federal drug charges disbarred

October 23, 2013

CHARLES TOWN - A former Jefferson County assistant prosecutor who pleaded guilty last month to a federal drug charge has been disbarred, officials with the state's Office of Disciplinary Counsel announced Tuesday.

James Casimiro III, 37, was arrested July 24 after being indicted by a federal grand jury on two counts of distribution of oxycodone, a schedule II controlled substance.

He was accused of selling an unspecified amount of the prescription pain killer for $300 to a person known by the grand jury May 31 and June 25.

Casimiro, who has since been terminated from his position with the Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney's Office, pleaded guilty Sept. 12 in Martinsburg's U.S. District Court to one count of distribution of oxycodone after accepting a plea agreement, according to court records.

The court accepted Casimiro's guilty plea and deferred accepting the plea agreement and sentencing until the court's probation department completes a presentence report.

Casimiro faces a maximum sentence of up to 20 years in prison, a fine of up to $1 million and a term of at least three years of supervised release, records show.

On Oct. 3, the state's Chief Lawyer Disciplinary Counsel filed a petition requesting that the West Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals accept Casimiro's consent to disbarment.

Last Wednesday, the Supreme Court issued an order granting the petition and annulled, by voluntary consent, the former prosecutor's license to practice law in West Virginia.

Casimiro had been employed with the prosecuting attorney's office for more than five years prior to his indictment.